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Cardiff Blues duo feature on bench for final Women's Six Nations clash

International | 14th March 2019


Cardiff Blues' Manon Johnes and Robyn Wilkins feature on the bench for Wales Women's final Six Nations clash against Ireland on Sunday.

Rowland Phillips' side return to the Cardiff Arms Park, as they look to finish their campaign on a high following last week's stunning last gasp win over Scotland in Glasgow.

Wales have made two changes to the starting line-up as Alisha Butchers is given the nod in the number six jersey. The Scarlets back row is currently part of the Cardiff Blues Community Foundation as girls rugby officer.

Experienced playmaker Elinor Snowsill is also reintroduced to the starting XV, replacing Wilkins, who had started every game in the Championship to this point.

Teenage back row Johnes retains her place on the bench and is in line to win her seventh international cap, having made her debut in the autumn Test victory over South Africa.

Head coach Phillips said: “We want to capitalise on the confidence we’ve gained from the win over Scotland. We’ve shown a huge amount of character throughout this tournament – to hold Italy out at the end of that game and to come back from behind to win in Scotland showed remarkable attitude – and skill for such a young side.

“Despite that, I don’t feel we have shown how good a side we are and we’d like to do that on Sunday.

“Ireland are in a similar place as us. They played well against France last weekend. They have a strong back row and players who can make a difference. We certainly won’t be under-estimating them.

“However, we want to focus on ourselves, show what we can do with the ball and produce a better all-round performance. We’ve got a big match in us and hopefully we can showcase that on Sunday.”

Tickets are available for Sunday's clash through the Cardiff Blues ticketing website.

Wales Women: Lauren Smyth (Ospreys); Jasmine Joyce (Scarlets), Hannah Jones (Scarlets), Lleucu George (Scarlets), Jess Kavanagh (RGC); Elinor Snowsill (Bristol Bears), Keira Bevan (Ospreys); Caryl Thomas (Dragons), Carys Phillips (capt, Ospreys), Amy Evans (Ospreys), Gwen Crabb (Ospreys), Mel Clay (Ospreys), Alisha Butchers (Scarlets), Bethan Lewis (Dragons) Siwan Lillicrap (Ospreys)
Replacements: Kelsey Jones (Ospreys), Cara Hope (Ospreys), Cerys Hale (Dragons), Alex Callender (Scarlets), Manon Johnes (Cardiff Blues), Ffion Lewis (Scarlets), Robyn Wilkins (Cardiff Blues), Lisa Neumann (RGC)